1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to data visualization and in particular its implementation by and application to conventional spreadsheets and displays of tabular data.
2. Background of the Invention
Interactive electronic spreadsheets such as the 1979 VisiCalc numerical spreadsheet (http://www.danbricklin.com/visicalc.htm), Supercalc numerical spreadsheet (1980), Microsoft Multiplan™ 91982), Lotus 1-2-3™ (1983), the AppleWorks™ spreadsheet module (1984), Microsoft Excel™ (1985), OpenOffice.org™ Calc, Google's Google Spreadsheets, etc., present a tabular presentation of data and calculation formula flow in arrangements that have proven to be very useful for data analysis. Interactive electronic spreadsheets typically include plotting routines that create graphical representation of selected data points. These plots can be used to provide visual representations of data and mathematical functions. In a sense, these interactive electronic spreadsheet functions provide a form of data visualization based on data in the interactive electronic spreadsheet.
Further, interactive electronic spreadsheets present numerical, textual, and symbolic data to be presented in a tabular array of cells, with the numerical, textual, and symbolic data within the cells provided in various font styles and colors, and with various background colors and border styles of the associated cell. Using interactive electronic spreadsheet functions known as “conditional formatting” these font styles and colors, cell background colors, and cell border styles can be controlled by values of data according to hand-specified conditional tests performed on data within one or more specified cells. Such hand-specified conditional tests are entered through interactive electronic spreadsheet GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces), VBA (Visual Basic for Applications), APIs (Application programmer interfaces), etc. These interactive electronic spreadsheet functions provide another form of data visualization based on data in the interactive electronic spreadsheet.
These visual data representation successes of the interactive electronic spreadsheet paradigm suggest additional opportunities for providing and combining additional data visualization capabilities with the well-established functionality and embedded deployment of interactive electronic spreadsheet software. The present invention provides several such additional data visualization capabilities to traditional interactive electronic spreadsheets. The visual effects provided by the invention can be automatically varied over a range responsive to values of data or formulas according to mathematical functions rather than conditional tests found in interactive electronic spreadsheet products.
Unlike the logical-test structure inherent in “conditional formatting”, the invention provides for use of numerical values directly from tabular data or as calculated by hidden mathematical function, compositions of mathematical functions, or traditional spreadsheet formulas to easily provide rich detailed control of useful parameterized visual effects rendered in the context of conventional interactive electronic spreadsheet and tabular data display.
The visual effects can include variation of background color or texture or border color, thickness, grouping scope of cells enveloping characters conveying data, as well as font color, type, embellishment, size, format, location, decimal places, or supplemental symbols symbolic or image element rendered within the cell of characters conveying data. Additionally, the invention provides for data-driven 3D plots rendered in the context of or projection from interactive electronic spreadsheet or tabular data. The invention provides for these visualization operations to be generated by an algorithm directly or indirectly in communication with data or parts of a program rendering an interactive electronic spreadsheet or visually displayed data table. The invention also provides for various optional additional functions, for example:                Data-driven automatic “live” sorting of rows and columns;        Incorporation of externally-provided stored data and live data feeds;        Real-time response to live input data, interactive data entry, or visualization manipulation via interactive user interfaces;        Collaboration capabilities;        Web-access capabilities;        Meaningful data sonification capabilities, including those involving multichannel timbre modulation.        
Because many aspects of the invention are described in terms of, or pertain to interactive electronic spreadsheet programs, the shorthand “spreadsheet” will be understood to mean interactive electronic spreadsheet programs.